BATON ROUGE - After more than three years of construction and subsequent traffic delays, The Department of Transportation and Development has opened Interstate 12 between O'Neal Lane in East Baton Rouge Parish and Juban Road in Livingston Parish.

"It's the best thing that I could ever wish for to be honest, you know with the congestion that it causes with the barricades being up, now it should alleviate all of that and I can't wait to see it open," said Bryan Brown, who gets caught in traffic daily.

At a cost of $146.2 million, the project added a third lane in both directions, built new bridges over the Amite River, and updated interchanges, exits and on-ramps.

"It's a huge life improvement for this area, considering people are moving out here for the schools, the additional traffic that that brings and the businesses I think it's gonna do a lot for Livingston Parish," said Celeste Small, who travels around traffic.

Monday afternoon and into the evening, crews put the final touches on the roadway by painting the permanent stripes. Gov. Bobby Jindal also scheduled a ribbon-cutting ceremony this afternoon to officially recognize the completion.

The work is not done beyond Juban Road. Another similar project extends to Walker and beyond, depending on how much money is left over.